We Are Not What We Should Be

We humans have always had faith in ourselves. That faith has given us in our times coolness in mid-summer, tropical fruit in mid-winter, buildings reaching above the clouds, and time to read the treasure of knowledge collected over 5,000 years. It has also given us the sense that we can improve ourselves over time until we reach an exalted state just short of God.

Even in colonial days, we Americans believed we were the New Israel and that we lived in the Promised Land. Today, we think if we could vote the right people into office the needed laws would be passed that would correct the flaws still existing.

It will not happen; we are humans, not God.

Jesus reminds us of our humanness in his discourse on divorce, very much in the style of the Sermon on the Mount. To think an angry thought about someone is to murder him. To divorce a spouse is to commit adultery. Jesus did not say that Moses was wrong. He said what he always said to us, we fall short of the Truth, so we do things we should not do.

It is so easy for us to gloss over the Genesis statement, and they become one body. NJB In quoting that portion of the Word of God, Jesus in effect said that to split a body in half is to kill it. Divorce equals murder.

Jesus in other settings demonstrated to us that friends are bound together in much the same way. Any off-handed remark by one friend, intentionally or not, that hurts the other is equal to murder; it splits the friendship body.

Jesus did not come to earth to present to us a precise plan of action for us to become perfect. It is impossible for us to become perfect, so any such plan is doomed to failure. We like to believe we are better people than our ancestors who lived in caves, that we have improved humanity. No, no, and no.

Jesus came to earth to show us a better way, but most importantly to write up the contract for us to become his bride. He knows that his bride commits murder and adultery, but he chooses us anyway. Last week we read that everyone will be salted with fire. NIV That is the cleansing fire that will prepare the bride to meet the groom. Cleansed, we will all become one body with Jesus. With Jesus. There will be no divorce in Heaven.

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Bibles used from BibleGateway.com

CJB Complete Jewish Bible
GNT Good News Translation
Phillips JB Phillips New Testament
KJV King James Version
TLB Living Bible
MSG The Message
NIV New International Version
NLT New Living Translation
OJB Orthodox Jewish Bible
RSV Revised Standard Version
ESV English Standard Version

Neosho County, Kansas, January 6, 1886. A stranger guns down Remmy's family as he helplessly watches from a distance. The killer searches for Remmy who runs through the snow-covered farmland to a hiding hole. He avoids death the next day when the most deadly blizzard to ever strike the state covers his escape. He then learns from a friend that the sheriff believes he is the killer.
Remmy continues to run, stopping first in Fort Scott, then on to Kansas City. In the spring he joins the crew of Buffalo Bill's Wild West where he meets more friends who protect him and help him prepare for his return to search for the true killer. Along the way, Remmy wrestles with his sense of guilt for not saving his family, his fear of being the next victim, and the ultimate question: should he kill the killer?